Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali has revealed the sport will never return to Russia for any future races. They opted to cancel the contract for the country’s Grand Prix after Vladimir Putin ’s decision to invade Ukraine in February.
Next month, Sochi was to hold the race for one final time before moving to St Petersburg in 2023, a plan that has since been scrapped. Speaking to BILD, via GrandPrix.com, Domenicali made it clear there were no plans to revisit Russia.
"I've always believed that you should never say never," he said. "But in this case, I can promise for sure - we will no longer negotiate with them. There will be no more racing in Russia." Russian Grand Prix promoter Alexey Titov said he expects a refund for the early termination.
"This debt exists, it is confirmed and our position on it is unchanged," said Titov to Russian state news agency TASS . "We expect a refund regardless of the current position of Formula One Management in relation to holding races in the Russian Federation.
"The current situation in world sports is extremely politicised. It is necessary to take Domenicali's words here with this in mind. What he said has a pronounced political connotation that has nothing to do with the real spirit of sports.
"The future of our relations today is really unclear. We will take Domenicali's position into account in our further work." F1 began its relationship with Russia in 2014, although the Sochi Autodrom was criticised for its lack of opportunities to overtake.
F1 agreeing to race in Russia acted as part of the legacy for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Each race held in Sochi was won by Mercedes, with Valtteri Bottas winning two and Lewis Hamilton winning the other five.
Lando Norris looked set to win last year but an ill advised decision to stay out rather than pit for new tyres just before a period of heavy rain, saw him spin out and Hamilton sped past to take the chequered flag and win his 100th F1 race. In other news, the Belgian Grand Prix is in danger of being removed from the F1 calendar.
The sport will return from its summer break at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, but its contract is up this year and so far a new deal has yet to be agreed. Therefore, there is a possibility F1 may not return to Belgium in 2023. However, the sport is looking to return to South Africa and China.
